The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of the fool to the left

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Brave is a Plastic Fork

There is a movement that I have taken note of within the
Christian church. I say within the church because all churches are members of
the body of Christ, and the lines between different bodies is more blurred then
it has been in generations, even to human faculties. I say movement because
many people have adopted its phrases, precepts, and persuasions across numerous
church bodies. This is the Brave movement. The Brave movement holds bravery of Christians
as a cardinal virtue, and embraces Jesus as one who makes believers brave.

Real people write worship and their writing follows
teaching and understanding. Worship songs can become anthems of the faith,
constant reminders of seasons we walk in now and seasons that have been in the
past. At different times, Amazing Grace[i]
can be the cry of our hearts or a faint reminder of Christians from days past. Oceans[ii]
by Hillsong may be the anthem of the body for the past two years, a fresh sound
of David echoed across the world. Movements have their songs as well, because
music penetrates and reflects the soul of the artist and receiver. If there was
a Brave movement ten years ago, it probably would have been headlined by Nicole
Nordeman with Brave[iii]
(“…you make me want to be brave”).

Today, You Make Me Brave[iv]
from Bethel Music is a contemporary worship song that is the anthem of the
Brave movement, an ideological rallying cry staking a claim in the hearts of
believers engaging in worship. You Make
Me Brave has a great sound, uplifting chords and a catchy hook. It opens
with a noble message of humility before Jesus (“King of Heaven, in humility I bow”), a declaration of victory (“Champion of Heaven you made a way for all
to enter in”) and proclamation of our calling (“So I will let you draw me out beyond the shore into the waves”). The
back half of this worship song is a repeated declaration of “You make me brave” and rebuke of nameless
fears. There is much truth in this. Humility is righteous. Jesus is King. Jesus
is salvation. We stand called. Jesus makes you brave?

There are three problems with this line of reasoning. The
first is a category error, the second is a priority error, and the third is the
boy who cried wolf. Brave[v]
is an adjective, noun, or a verb describing someone or something ready to face
danger without showing fear. Brave is a choice, a manner of action, a method of
behavior. One is not ‘made brave’. A firefighter running into his hostile work environment
is brave by choice, not by manufacture. Someone did not come and make Rosa
Parks brave; she chose to act bravely. No one made the David Livingstone, the ‘Brave
Scotchman’, penetrate the African continent for Jesus, he chose his actions and
they were brave.

It is a categorical error to claim ‘you make me brave’ as a
truth of Jesus to your heart. This error abdicates the responsibility of the Christian
to act brave and fraudulently imposes it upon Jesus, who purposefully does not
make our decisions.

Priorities matter. Do not consider all things as of great
importance and suffer the opportunity costs of neglecting the important at the
expense of the lesser things. Penny-wise, Pound-foolish[vi]
is a nuanced example of this false focus. Paul tells us about the fruits of the
spirit[vii]
and examples of righteousness[viii].
Brave is not among them. Maybe this is for two reasons. First, it should be natural
in our new state that we live with courage, conviction, and righteousness.[ix]
Second, because of our relationship with Jesus we explicitly make the choices of
life, he does not make choices for us. This is free will and it is fundamental
to Christian faith. Bravery is less then critical for most of choices, and God
calls us into much greater than mere bravery.

Bravery is the failure to appear daunted,
unlike boldness, which is not hesitating in the face of actual or possible danger.
I think this is what people mean when they say brave, but words shape our
mindsets more than intent and therefore matter greatly. To place ‘bravery’ as
virtue above Godly humility or righteous living or liberty from the flesh is a
waste of great gifts. This is coming into the feast of the marriage of the
Bride and Jesus, equipped with our own plastic cutlery and rejecting all the
finest forks and knives of heaven. “No thank you” says the diner, “I want to
use these instead. You keep those; I have found something much better.” It
should frustrate us to see pearls freely offered cast aside so petty rhinestones
can continue to adorn this faith. David celebrated the victories of God over
his enemies[x]
and he rejoiced in the strength God gave him to conquer[xi].
It is notable that he found comfort in the tools and abilities[xii]
and deliverance[xiii]
God gave him, not in their rejection. Importantly,
David did not expect nor demand that God make his choices for him, he did not
praise God for making him brave. David
was brave and it was his choice to be, and he worshiped the Lord for who the
Lord is and what he has really done.

As David was once a shepherd, so let me tell you of
another. Once there was as shepherd boy on the hills. In the midst of a summer
doldrums, he prepared a plan for excitement and attention. Dashing down the
hill with the sheep ruminating behind, he exclaims to all who listen that he
saw a wolf! Reacting with due haste his neighbors dash up the hill seek the destroyer,
only they cannot find him there. Days go by and the boy becomes dulled with the
tedium of his walk, and he prepares his plan for excitement and attention.
Dashing down the hill with the sheep of his master ruminating on his departure,
he exclaims again to his neighbors that he saw a wolf! Many of townspeople dash
up the hill to spy out the wolf, reacting with perhaps less haste then before. The
destroyer is not here! This immature shepherd has misled others and wasted time
again. The neighbors admonish the boy for his foolishness and leave him again
to tend the master’s flock. Days pass on, and the boy prepares his plan for excitement
and attention. It has succeeded without fail in the old days! (In summer, the days grow old with undue
speed).

He stands, ready to dash once again, when he counts his master’s
sheep. The flock is smaller than it was. Counting out, he realizes there are
indeed sheep missing. In the near distance, howling breaks forth, and the
rustles and hustles and bustles reveal a number of destroyers greater then he
can handle. Dashing down the hill with the diminishing sheep bleating confusion,
scattering behind him; the boy seeks his neighbors and exclaims the news to his
town. Now none listens. He has shown complete disrespect for his neighbors, wasted
their time with running hither and yon, and destroyed their trust with
falsehoods. He has failed to present truth to them, and so when he does come to
the truth, no one will accept. It is critical to present the truth always to
our neighbors. When we fail at this, there is disrespect and time lost irreparably.
If we cry out falsely, or intentionally misdirect our neighbors, we condemn our
efforts to failure.

The Brave movement does this, foregoing the hard truth of
personal responsibility and salvation offered and misdirecting to the plastic forks
and knives, saying Jesus makes me brave. This is an easy out with only
transient victory. It feels good for a while to claim, “It is not me, Jesus
makes me brave!” Yet when the grist is ground in life, there is no foundation
prepared to act with righteousness. This is a weak foundation, one built on
sand of emotions and temporary expediency. The Brave movement sacrifices the
truth of making choices on the altar of a strong female vocal, catchy lyrics
and comforting half-truths. Church, we are better than this. Do not offer fake
answers to a world demanding reality. Rather hold fast to what is true and
proclaim the good news in grace and in truth[xiv].

To be brave is your choice; it is the choice to do the right thing at the right
time for the right reasons, regardless of the consequences of this world. The
song Brave by Nicole Nordeman
retained this reality, and emphasized the choice of Christian. If our faith is true, we should experience boldness in our walk that is inwardly experienced and outwardly visible. Boldness to disciple, boldness for grace, boldness for truth, boldness for Jesus as he really is and not merely though song. Daniel in
Babylon chose to be righteous and the Lord honored his boldness. Peter
chose to walk on the water towards Jesus, and in his faith walked with boldness. Paul
worshiped in prison, and from his relationship with Jesus came boldness, boldness we have not seen the end of. Make the choice, and do not feast upon half-truths and
falsehoods for your life, wherever they come from. Love rejoices with the truth.

1 comment:

Reading this takes me back to 1982-84, my years at Christ For the Nations Institute. Dr. Carroll Thompson discussed the fallacy of the lyrics of many our modern day worship songs and told us to be cautious of them. Your analysis is excellent and well presented. Your BOLDNESS is wonderful and you are very brave to speak out. Love you. I couldn't resist.